Knit hosiery is worn by women throughout the world. The desire for ultra sheerness results in a material which is easily damaged. The knitting method of producing the fabric in an inexpensive fashion means minor damage may cause a cascading affect which results in an unsightly “run” or “ladder” caused by the continued unraveling of the material's knit.
Hosiery wearers have developed a number of ways to repair minor damages before they become too unsightly. The goal is to save the material from further damage, at least for the day, until the hosiery may be replaced. The fibers are often too fine and too short to be tied or knotted. Pervious solutions have included using nail polish as a means of sticking or gluing the loose ends of the damaged fibers to the surrounding fabric. This solution results in hard inflexible fabric, at the point of the repair, which is unsightly and may be irritating to the skin of the wearer.
Another method of temporarily repairing hosiery has been the application of hair spray to the location of the damage and the surrounding area. The result is that the hair spray creates a bond between the loose fibers and surrounding fabric preventing further “run.” One of the problems is because hair spray causes unsightly discoloration of the fabric as the hair spray is formulated to sit on top of the fibers. Note that hair is not the same as the fibers of the fabric so the result is not ideal. The smooth/regular uniformity of the fibers in the fabric makes the undissolved particles of copolymers visible as a film or discoloration on the fabric which would not be evident on hair.
Further, hair spray results in a sticky feeling on the wearer's skin. Also, hair spray utilizes a urethane which results in an inflexible bond between adjacent fibers. As the hosiery continues to be worn, the movement results in the breaking of the bonds basically undoing the fix. Finally, the chemicals in hair spray are not meant for the direct application to the skin or for application in the quantities required for repair of hosiery, resulting in skin irritation and user discomfort or injury.